


It's the Thought That Counts (or So They Say)

by LoneWulffe



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Karamel Secret Santa 2020, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:55:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28218825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoneWulffe/pseuds/LoneWulffe
Summary: What do you get your sweet, cute, funny, hot, caring and just all-round amazing Daxamite boyfriend for Christmas?Good question. Kara doesn't know either.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Mon-El
Comments: 20
Kudos: 45





	It's the Thought That Counts (or So They Say)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [karxmels](https://archiveofourown.org/users/karxmels/gifts).



> First of all, thanks as always to my friend Crimson for giving this a read-through.  
> Secondly, this is dedicated to karxmels. Thank you for all the wonderful comments you've left on every chapter and fic I've posted. It's always a joy to read them and I hope this fic shows how much I appreciate that.  
> Thirdly, an early Merry Christmas to my fellow Karamels who celebrate it and Happy Holidays to everyone who just enjoys it as a day off!  
> To be honest, I wasn't sure at first if I could participate in the Karamel Secret Santa 2020 but things worked out in the end so a special thank you to cassier556 for organising it and inviting me.  
>   
> Anyway, before you continue, I suppose I should clarify the timeline. This fic is set in a post-S2 world where:  
> 1) Lar and Rhea flew off and were never seen again.  
> 2) Everyone with the initials LL is rotting in jail where they belong.  
> 3) Eve as established from my Paradise in a Dream series is Kara's BFF instead of a certain person we shall not speak of.
> 
> Now that we've settled that, on with the story! I hope you all enjoy it!

> “ _A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver.” – Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ_

* * *

While it was admittedly not as cool as flight, heat vision and all the other abilities Earth's yellow sun granted her, Kara liked to consider finding the perfect gift for anyone whatever the occasion as one of her superpowers.

On Krypton, gift-giving had been largely symbolic and there had never been much room for confusion or surprises where presents were concerned. Items related to longevity were given on birthdays, symbols of love and affection were exchanged between couples on their wedding anniversaries and so on and so forth. Everyone had been free to shower someone close to them with gifts of their choosing whenever they wished, of course, but it hadn't been a common occurrence by any stretch of the imagination.

Here on Earth, however... It was as if humans were constantly trying to find new reasons to buy something for someone... and driving themselves absolutely insane in the process.

Kara had at first struggled to wrap – no pun intended – her head around the entire concept just as she had with everything else to do with adapting to life as supposedly normal human being Kara Danvers. (The overwhelmingly commercial aspect of the whole thing in human culture hadn't helped either.) It was only once she had begun to view it as a way of showing everyone around her how grateful she was for their presence in her life and everything they had done for her that she had embraced it to the fullest.

After that, she had started looking forward to every single birthday, holiday and every other occasion in between where she could go gift-shopping. Having a limited budget – her allowances when she had been younger and her less than impressive paychecks once she had started working – never hindered her hunt for the perfect gift even once... and her efforts always paid off. Every single time, the recipient had genuinely appreciated her gift, and every single time, she felt an immeasurable amount of happiness at that.

This perfect gift-giver record remained unbroken for years.

And then Mon-El had come along.

At the beginning, getting him anything other than his very own tiny DEO holding cell had been the furthest thing from her mind. Even after they – or rather she specifically – had stopped being so antagonistic towards the other party, the first major celebration she'd been able to invite him to was Thanksgiving. Christmas had therefore been the first instance where she'd gotten to apply her gift-buying skills to him... except she had at the time been doing her best to pretend that she didn't 'like him' like him.

As such, she had very deliberately picked out something that was incredibly safe, highly impersonal and could not be misconstrued in any way as a sign that she saw him as anything more than a friend:

A Christmas sweater.

It had made her utterly miserable.

The fact that he had been completely sincere as he had thanked her for her gift had only made her feel ten times worse about her decision.

After things between them had changed rather drastically – for the better at that – she had privately resolved to put just that little bit more effort into all his presents moving forward if only to atone for that first Christmas gift.

For the next few gift-giving occasions, she kept that promise and felt the usual rush of pride at a job well done every time she saw his face light up upon unwrapping her present.

Then December had loomed on the horizon once more... and all the guilt she thought she had assuaged since that first Christmas returned.

With company.

This, her traitorous brain reminded her with rather sadistic glee, was going to be her first ever Christmas with a serious, honest-to-goodness _boyfriend_.

A boyfriend she had become more than comfortable living with who had said those three little words to her already while she had yet to do so... but that was neither here nor there. A boyfriend her family and friends approved of wholeheartedly, some to even slightly terrifying degrees. A boyfriend who now had a starring role in any daydreams she had about her long-term and long-lived future. (In some of those daydreams, her mind even embarrassingly referred to him as something a lot more... _permanent_... than just 'boyfriend'.)

She didn't just have to find something that would essentially make up for The Present That Shall Not Be Spoken of Ever Again; she had to find something that showed either directly or indirectly just how much she appreciated having him in her life as more than just a friend – the only person who knew first-hand exactly what she had been through, what she had lost and what it was like to start over in a completely different world. It was going to be the first Christmas present she would be giving as a girlfriend and she swore in Rao's name that it was going to be the best Christmas present of all time – the Christmas present that all future Christmas presents would be measured against and found wanting.

Having placed so much unnecessary pressure on herself, she realised to her horror that the unthinkable had happened as a result:

She had no idea what to get him.

Suffice to say, Kara proceeded to have a not so minor meltdown and, after agonising at length over the matter, did what she never thought she would ever need to do... and asked for help.

Discreetly, of course. She still had her pride to maintain, after all.

* * *

Winn looked up from the latest piece of alien tech the DEO had seized from Supergirl's villain of the week he had been studying, a puzzled frown etched into his features. “Why do you want to know what I'm getting Mon-El for his Christmas gift?”

“Oh, you know.” Kara deliberately kept her gaze fixated on a little scratch on the table and feigned nonchalance. “Just want to make sure that we don't end up getting the same thing, that's all.”

“Well, unless you've got your own game store contact who's going to make sure you get the two brand new PlayStation 5 units you pre-ordered on time, that's not happening,” he grinned. “Sophie even gave me an employee discount on the games I ordered to go with them so we can start playing the second we have everything all set up.”

“I-I see. That's... nice.” _So much for that idea_ , she thought glumly to herself even as she tried to keep her disappointment hidden from him. In hindsight, she should have expected something like this; Mon-El had almost instantly become a fan the day Winn had introduced him to the world of video games and the two of them now regularly had gaming sessions at Winn's apartment.

Having picked up on her dour mood but completely misreading the reason behind it, Winn gave her a reassuring smile. “Don't worry, as much as he'll probably love my present, we all know he'll love yours even more. There's no way a PlayStation 5 will be able to compete with whatever you got for him.”

Something like soul-crushing despair descended upon her. “Yeah, I'm sure he will...” she chuckled weakly while doing her best to plaster a smile on her face.

Strike one.

* * *

“Motorcycle lessons.” Alex couldn't have looked more pleased with herself if she'd tried. “I've even contacted an old friend from university who owns a second-hand motorcycle shop; if Mon-El's interested, I'm going to take him there to pick one out and help him with all the paperwork, loan included.”

Kara blinked, momentarily stunned speechless. Mon-El had mentioned before how he thought Earth bikes were pretty cool but she hadn't realised he was this enthusiastic about them. It made her feel a little... insecure? After all, wasn't this something a girlfriend – a good one, anyway – should know about the guy they'd been dating for months? Sure, it was nice that he was clearly getting along swimmingly with Alex but still...

“Hello? Earth to Kara?”

Rudely dragged out of her emotionally muddled thoughts, Kara blinked again and found Alex eyeing her with one raised eyebrow. “Sorry, did you say something?”

“Are you worried about his safety? Because I'm pretty sure the bike would be in worse shape than him if anything happens,” Alex pointed out before she realised what she'd said and quickly tried to make up for her verbal blunder. “Not that you should expect anything to happen, of course; I mean, that's the whole point of the lessons.”

“No, it's not that. I just...” At a loss, Kara smiled weakly and waved her hands in front of her. “He never mentioned wanting to learn how to ride a motorcycle to me before, that's all.”

Alex scratched the back of her head, a slightly sheepish expression on her face. “To be fair, he only mentioned it in passing so I'm kind of taking a gamble here. He might like it or he might not but it's the thought that counts, right?”

“Yeah, I guess...” Kara mumbled, disheartened.

True to form, it didn't take very long for Alex to put two and two together and she gaped. “Wait, are you asking all these questions because you have no idea what to get him? _You?_ ”

A strangled noise escaped Kara and she began to rethink her current course of action. “T-That's not true!”

“You're _crinkling_!” Alex sounded half scandalised and half entertained. “Oh wow. I can't believe this. Kara Danvers, gift-giver supreme, completely clueless about what to get _her own boyfriend_. For _Christmas_.”

“Can you just not make it sound more horrible than it actually is?!” Kara whined as she buried her face in her hands.

If Alex grinned any wider, she was going to get mistaken as a Joker impersonator. “Nope. And now I'm totally going to be paying extra attention on Christmas to see what you finally decided on.”

“You're my _sister_ ,” Kara muttered accusingly, glaring daggers at Alex with such intensity she was one step shy of using her heat vision. “Isn't this the part where you offer to, you know, _help_ me?”

“Uh, let me think... No.”

“...I hate you.”

“Love you too, my dearest little sister.”

In other words, strike two.

* * *

“You're asking me this because you're looking for ideas on what to get him, aren't you?”

Like usual, Eve's uncanny ability to read Kara like an open book especially when it involved her relationship with Mon-El unnerved the Kryptonian. “Am I being that obvious?”

Eve shrugged and took another sip of her coffee. “Kind of. But seriously, I don't get why you're struggling so much. You know him better than probably the rest of us combined and he practically worships the ground you walk on; even if you don't get the most mind-blowing awesome present ever in the history of Christmas presents, he's going to cherish it just because it came from you. I think it's cute and really sweet and all that but you really don't have to stress yourself out so much over it.”

Kara was pretty sure she was just going to make herself look like a colossal idiot if she told Eve about The Present That Shall Not Be Spoken of Ever Again so she settled for a half-truth. “I just want it to be special. I mean... This is the first time I'm buying a Christmas present for him as a... you know...” she trailed off and tried not to blush or fidget, “...girlfriend.”

One of Eve's eyebrows arched and a moment of silence passed before she let out a heavy sigh and leaned forward. “Okay, since you put it like that I may have an idea and it won't even cost you more than five dollars.”

Perking up instantly, Kara leaned forward as well with no small amount of eagerness. “Not that I'm on _that_ tight of a budget but what is it?”

There was a strange gleam in Eve's eyes which Kara realised later should have been her first warning sign. “Just get a nice bow to put on your head and wear a sign around your neck that says 'Unwrap me'.”

Kara stared blankly.

Eve stared back.

For a very long while, nobody moved or made a sound.

Then Kara turned bright red and started sputtering. “ _W-W-What?! Y-You- T-That's- H-How could you even- I-I'm not going to do THAT!_ ”

“Well, you asked for ideas...” Far from being even the slightest bit embarrassed at her scandalous suggestion, Eve actually looked a little annoyed that her 'brilliant' solution had not received the response she had expected.

“ _That's NOT a viable idea! At all!_ ” The pointed looks of their fellow café patrons finally registered in Kara's mind, causing her to become self-conscious and turn a darker shade of red. “I'm talking about an actual present! One that actually fits in a real box and gets wrapped in actual festive wrapping paper!” she hissed when she finally regained the ability to speak although she remembered to keep her voice down this time.

If Kara had hoped Eve would come to her senses and stop being... well... Eve, she quickly found out that hope was in vain. “If you insist, there's a Victoria's Secret store right over there-”

Kara all but leapt out of her seat, her face so red there might as well be steam coming out of her ears. “I-I-I just heard a-a... a... cat! Meowing! Somewhere! I-It might need rescuing! Bye!”

Eve sulked as she watched Kara flee like an entire pack of rabid alien wolves were hoping to have her for dinner. “My help is never appreciated...”

Strike- Nope. Not even going to acknowledge this conversation had ever happened.

* * *

The next name on Kara's list was James... but unfortunately for her, he proved to be just as unintentionally unhelpful as the rest.

“An autographed copy of Alain Ducasse's first cookbook?” Kara repeated, gobsmacked. “The 'most Michelin stars currently in the world' chef Alain Ducasse? _That_ Alain Ducasse?”

The corners of James' lips twitched and he crossed his arms as he leaned back in his chair. “I'm pretty sure there's only one world-famous chef called Alain Ducasse, yes.”

“What- B-But how?!” she sputtered, arms flailing wildly in the air. “How did you even manage that?!”

This time, he didn't suppress his grin as he gestured around them. “Kara, we work at CatCo. It's kind of our job to establish ties with famous people like Michelin star chefs. Besides, I may not be Cat Grant but I've got my own strings that I can pull when the occasion calls for it.”

“Right. Of course.” A master chef's cookbook – autographed, no less – for a master chef boyfriend. Why hadn't she thought of that first? Then again, a gift like that might have come across as a little self-serving considering she was the one who benefited from his cooking the most. Besides, even if she had thought of it first, she didn't have the connections to get her hands on something like that even after all those years of being Ms Grant's personal assistant.

“Still trying to figure out what to get him?” James asked, drawing Kara out of her internal grumbling in the process.

She glowered a little, suspicious and wary. “'Still'? Who said I've been having trouble with buying Mon-El a present?”

“Maybe a little bird.” So someone had been running their stupid mouth – her bet was on either Winn or Alex – and she quietly began to plot her revenge. “But you know, if you do need any ideas, we're publishing an article about this year's most popular items that would make ideal Christmas presents this week.”

Her glower intensified. “Ha ha, James. Very funny.” She had in fact been the one who had been assigned to write said article by Snapper and he knew that.

“It's a good article!” he called out to her as she stalked out of his office. “I have faith in you!”

Growling under her breath, she told herself the only reason she didn't turn around and chuck something hard at his head was because it was Christmas season.

* * *

“Did I do something wrong?”

The forkful of lasagna that had been on its way to its final destination stopped mid-journey as Kara stared at Mon-El in stunned surprise. “What? _No!_ Why would you even ask me that?”

He shrugged his shoulders and dropped his gaze to his own plate of barely touched food. “I just... It just feels like you've been... distant... the past week.”

Bewilderment at his earlier question was immediately replaced by guilt – more guilt on top of the mountain of guilt she'd already been carrying around, that is. Of course he'd noticed that she hadn't exactly been her usual cheery self around him... and of course he'd come to the obviously wrong conclusion that it was his fault somehow. “Mon-El, I swear I'm not upset at you about anything. At all,” she reassured him with utmost sincerity as she put her fork down and reached across the table to clasp his hand and squeeze it. “I've just... had a lot on my mind lately.”

Despite her efforts, it was clear he was still worried. “Do you... want to talk about it? Because you know I'm always willing to listen, whatever it is.”

Somehow, she knew a part of him still believed he was the cause of her apparent gloominess and that just made her feel even guiltier. “It's nothing serious, I promise. Just... worried about whether I'll be able to get everyone's Christmas presents on time between work and... well, superhero work, that's all.”

It was enough of the truth that she could avoid giving herself away with her stupid traitorous crinkle and luckily for her that did the trick; he relaxed a little and that smile of his that always made her day better stole across his face. “I'm sure it's going to be fine. I mean, you're Supergirl and your presents are perfect just like everything else you do.” There was a telling pause. “Well, almost everything.”

The mischievous twinkle in his eyes betrayed the serious expression he had put on and Kara narrowed her eyes playfully at him, more than glad for the positive change in the mood between them. “Hey, what's that supposed to mean?”

Mon-El made a show of coughing very loudly and pointedly. “You've probably conveniently forgotten about it but I seem to recall a not so successful attempt at making chicken casserole last month...”

Her sputtering at his statement was only half for show. “You said you wouldn't bring that up ever again!”

“Did I? Strange, I don't remember that,” he commented while wearing a faux angelic look. “First you forget things and now you're remembering things that never happened? Maybe you should ask Alex or Eliza to check if that Krol arms smuggler you fought the other day might have hit you a little too hard on the head during your brawl.”

“How about I hit you 'a little too hard on the head' now and see if the same thing happens?” she threatened with a scowl.

“Violent as always,” he sighed dramatically but his expression turned first pensive and then oddly bashful as he dropped his gaze to his plate again, causing her ire to disappear and be replaced with confusion in the process. “But... you know... Speaking of Christmas presents, I, uh... I hope you'll like what I got you. It's... well... You'll see, I guess.”

And just like that, Kara's overwhelming and ever-growing guilt over her inability to figure out what to buy Mon-El for Christmas returned with a vengeance. “I'm sure I will,” she somehow managed to reply without letting her shame and despair seep into her voice.

* * *

Unwilling to create another situation where Mon-El might once again wrongly think she was mad at him, Kara tried to refrain from any further outward displays of her continued anxiety over her Christmas present dilemma. Unfortunately for her, that didn't help at all with her core problem and she ended up still moping in moments and places where he couldn't see her... although that didn't stop others from noticing instead.

Someone cleared their throat behind her but she didn't raise her head from its resting place on one of the desks that dotted the DEO command room. “Rough day?” a fatherly voice asked with mild concern.

 _Try rough month_ , she replied mentally but only allowed a soft weary groan to escape her.

There was the faint sound of the chair next to hers being pulled out and rolled over, prompting her to finally lift her head and turn sluggishly to her side. As expected, she was greeted with the sight of J'onn's gentle features which were currently creased with worry. “I'll take that as a yes.”

“It's not as bad as it looks.” Even as the words left her lips, she knew she was being far from convincing on more than one level.

One of his eyebrows arched, making it clear he didn't believe her. “I don't mean to pry but does this have anything to do with Christmas presents?”

Groaning again, she dropped her head back down on the desk and unintentionally left a dent in it as a result. “Who told you? Alex? No wait, it doesn't matter any more. Everyone's going to find out on Christmas that I couldn't get Mon-El – _my own boyfriend_ – a decent Christmas present and he'll be _so disappointed_ but he'll _still_ try to act like I haven't let him down and-”

“Okay, you need to calm down, Kara,” he cut her off gently and rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. “You still have a couple of weeks left to figure it out and I think you're being too hard on yourself about the whole thing in the first place. Just remember the golden rule when it comes to presents: It's the thought-”

“-that counts,” she finished for him with a morose mumble. “ _I know, J'onn. I know._ But I just-”

“-want it to be something really special.” This time, it was his turn to finish her sentence for her and he gave her a warm sympathetic smile that she couldn't see. “I've been in your shoes. I know the feeling all too well.”

The implications of his statement didn't escape Kara but she was too depressed to react to it. Instead, she turned her head just enough that she could look him in the eye. “I bet you've already figured out what to get him just like everyone else.”

J'onn had the good grace to look a little sheepish. “Authentic home-brewed emberspring liquor just like my people used to make it back on Mars. It's actually more of a joint gift from M'gann and I since she helped send over everything I couldn't get on Earth. Mon-El mentioned once that he'd heard about it before back on Daxam so I thought I'd let him have some so he can decide for himself if he likes it.”

“ _See?_ ” she whined somewhat childishly as she closed her eyes and turned face-down again into the desk. “Even _you've_ figured out something practically perfect to get him for Christmas that he's going to be so thrilled about! Why can't _I_ do that too?”

“To be fair, M'gann was the one who gave me the idea so I can't take full credit for that either,” he admitted. “As for your question, I'm pretty sure it wasn't that easy for everyone to pick a gift for him like you think. Did you try asking how long it took them to find something he might like?”

He had a point but she didn't feel like acknowledging it so she kept quiet.

The hand on her shoulder left its resting spot to pat her reassuringly on her back. “It'll come to you, I'm sure. Just have faith and keep looking.”

* * *

It did _not_ , in fact, 'come to her', and one weekend afternoon when Mon-El happened to have a shift at the bar found Kara wandering aimlessly through the mall like a lost child.

Like all lost children, she eventually cried out for help – figuratively speaking... sort of – from the person all children instinctively turned to for such things when they were in distress.

“Oh, sweetheart.” Even with the slight static distorting her voice, Eliza's motherly tone was as recognisable as it was comforting. “I thought you said you'd settled all your gift-buying two weeks ago.”

“I lied.” Kara had felt miserable enough doing it when Eliza had called the last time and she was feeling just as miserable admitting her deception now. “ _I'm sorry_ , Eliza, but I just-” she cut herself off and haphazardly waved the hand not holding her phone in the air, “ _I didn't know what to say when you asked how it was going!_ ”

“The truth would probably have worked just fine,” Eliza pointed out diplomatically with just a hint of chastisement, “but I can see why you might have been reluctant to admit it.”

“ _I'm supposed to be good at this!_ ” Kara started wailing, past the point of caring if the old lady who happened to be within earshot was now staring at her like she was a raving lunatic. “But it's less than two weeks to Christmas and I still have no clue what to buy for him! _Me!_ By this time every year, the only thing left for me to do is wait for the moment I see everyone's reactions when they unwrap my presents! Instead I'm... I'm...” she trailed off in dawning comical horror as she realised what kind of store she'd unwittingly walked into while she was busy sharing her woes. “ _I'm in a tacky gift shop!_ ”

A stony glare began boring its way into her back, and when she slowly turned to face its source she found a portly red-haired woman wearing the shop's uniform and a Santa hat who looked very unhappy. In fact, the woman looked so unhappy Kara began to wonder if she was in danger of being bodily thrown out of the shop, superpowers or not.

Desperate to avoid creating any more of a scene, Kara plastered what she hoped was a cheerful and placating smile onto her face in the hopes of defusing the situation. Meanwhile, Eliza was calling out her name from the other end of the line, no doubt wondering why her adoptive daughter had suddenly gone silent.

The woman running the 'tacky gift shop' was neither placated nor amused by Kara's admittedly pathetic attempt to change her mood for the better.

It was becoming apparent that more drastic measures would need to be taken to escape this unexpected predicament... and so Kara subjected herself to the unthinkable:

She grabbed the least tacky item she could find – a challenge unto itself, really, considering the selection which was somehow all insanely overpriced on top of that – and with great reluctance brought it to the counter.

Just as expected, the woman started smiling as she rang up the purchase before placing it in a little paper bag.

In contrast, Kara was the embodiment of gloom and left the store with less guilt and even less money than she had before she had mistakenly wandered into said store. Unable to put her latest round of misery into words at the moment, all she could do was groan out loud.

“Well, it's good to know the line didn't get cut without me noticing,” Eliza's gentle teasing abruptly reminded Kara that she was still on the line with her adoptive mother. “But it sounds like you barely survived whatever caused you to stop talking just now.”

A little embarrassed at having worried Eliza and how melodramatic she had been just a short while ago, Kara flushed and ducked her head. “I-It's not as bad as you think. I just...” She trailed off and let out a gusty sigh as she stared at the paper bag dangling from the hand not holding the phone. “The, um, lady running the shop kind of overheard me say... well, you know what... and I kind of had to buy something to make her stop glaring at me.”

“I see.” Thankfully, Eliza let the undisguised bemusement in her voice do all the talking instead of tease Kara outright. “So you still haven't figured out what to get Mon-El yet, I take it.”

“No...” Kara groaned pathetically and plopped herself down on the nearest mall bench which was fortunately unoccupied. The paper bag in her hand – a glaring reminder of how her gift-buying curse still hadn't been lifted – nearly slipped out of her grip and fell to the ground but was saved in time and placed on her lap. “I really don't know what I'm going to do, Eliza.”

There was the sound of a sigh tinged with affection. “Kara, I know you want it to be perfect but I think that's made you put too much unnecessary pressure on yourself and it's just making things worse. Just take a deep breath, think about what he might like and get the first thing that comes to mind. That sweet boy loves you so he'll love it no matter what because it came from you and-”

“It's the thought that counts?” Kara supplied with a mixture of weariness and resignation, doing her best not to pay attention to the strange twinge that had manifested in her chest at the mention of Mon-El's feelings for her. “I've heard.”

“Yes, and you should keep it in mind because it's true,” Eliza said patiently. “You remember how proud he was to wear that Christmas sweater-”

In an instant, all of Kara's misery came merrily back and she buried her head in her free hand. “Can we please never mention that ever again? It's bad enough he plans on wearing it for the party and probably every Christmas in the future so I'll be reminded it exists every year without fail...”

“It was a nice sweater, dear. Don't be so hard on yourself.”

Kara let out a noise that brought a dying whale to mind.

A sigh that communicated nothing but fond exasperation crackled its way through the line but Eliza thankfully let the matter drop and tried to change the topic. “In any case, I hope your recent purchase didn't set you back too much?”

“It could've been worse, I guess.” Kara grimaced at the memory of the price tags she'd seen in the gift shop even as she retrieved the ticket out of purgatory she'd purchased from its paper bag. “Although I have no idea what I'm going to do with this,” she added somewhat glumly, turning the Christmas-themed snow globe in her hand so that the little white flakes danced lazily down on the winter scene inside.

“If you want to get rid of it that badly, maybe you can put it somewhere in your office and have it be part of the decorations,” Eliza suggested calmly.

“Maybe...” Another twirl of the wrist sent the white flakes dancing erratically inside the globe again, and Kara watched them in an almost hypnotic trance as her mind started to wander.

And then suddenly she had her answer.

“Eliza, I think I know what to get him,” Kara blurted out as an elated smile bloomed on her face. It was ridiculous but somehow she felt as if she'd just gotten a burst of concentrated yellow sun radiation injected directly into her bloodstream.

“That's wonderful, sweetheart.” The smile on Eliza's face that Kara couldn't see was evident in the warmth of her voice. “I knew you'd figure it out in the end.”

Kara managed a giddy laugh as she tucked the snow globe back into its paper bag and got to her feet. “That makes one of us. But thanks, Eliza.”

A round of goodbyes were exchanged before the call ended but Kara made another call almost immediately after that.

“Hey, Kara,” Mon-El answered happily after a few rings, his voice clear despite the usual hubbub of the bar in the background.

“Hi, Mon-El.” She didn't even have to concentrate that hard to picture him at that moment, cradling his phone with his shoulder while his hands busied themselves preparing a drink, and it made her smile widen. “I'm sorry to bother you at work-”

“It's okay,” he quickly cut her off, his tone sincere and reassuring. “I mean it. It's been a slow day so far so you're not interrupting anything. What's up?”

“Nothing much. I just wanted to know if you'll be working next weekend. If you are, can you take at least a day off? Either Saturday or Sunday would be fine. I know it's the weekend before Christmas so things might be a little busier than usual so just one day is enough.”

“Uh, I have to come in on both days but I think I can swap shifts with Degtis and work on a weekday instead without any problem. What's this about?”

She chewed on her bottom lip a little as happy anticipation and just the slightest hint of nervousness started to make a jumbled mess of her heart. “It's a surprise.” Then her anxiety got the better of her and she reconsidered her plan just a touch. “You don't... Do you mind if I give you your Christmas present a little early?”

“Of course not!” He actually sounded utterly bewildered that she could think otherwise for even a second.

“Okay.” She took a quick steadying breath before she barrelled on. “So... next weekend?”

“Next weekend,” he confirmed readily. “I'll even give you your present early to be fair and everything.”

“Yeah. Sure. Okay then. I'll, um, see you later then.”

 _This is going to work_ , she told herself after she hung up to try and ease her nerves. _He's going to like it. And at the end of the day, it's the thought that counts... right?_

* * *

Unfortunately, in the war between giddy excitement and nervous dread it was the latter that gradually won as the days passed. Every time Kara came close to convincing herself for good that Mon-El would like if not love what she had planned, her doubts would rear their ugly heads once again and she would be back to panicking and wondering if it was too late to think of something else.

But it was already too late, for one, and if she abandoned this course of action now she had no backup plan she could switch to even at the last second. All she could do was stick to her guns and give it her all with only the fragile hope that everything would work out for the best.

So she gave it her all and more.

As a result, what had begun as a fairly simple concept grew a second head and two long legs with which it used to gamely run away from her. She looked up location photos, obsessively studied weather forecasts and, as a final desperate stroke, began critically examining just what suitable food she could prepare on her own without help or burning down her apartment. That narrowed it down to an abysmally short list of options but she soldiered on and committed to making the best assortment of delicious sandwiches she had ever made. Two large flasks of hot chocolate to be made the morning of the trip were then added to the menu followed by maybe a few too many cookies – store-bought, to her great shame – and even some Red Vines just in case.

Then, just when her anxiety and self-doubt had reached its peak, the weekend arrived. As he had promised, Mon-El had managed to free up his entire Saturday and unwittingly eased her nerves by being his usual 'best boyfriend in the world' self first thing in the morning.

“I'm starting to feel like I owe you a second Christmas present just for this,” she mumbled unladylike through a mouthful of chocolate chip pancake – her third one already, and that wasn't even the first item out of the entire breakfast feast he'd prepared that she'd devoured.

He grinned and shovelled another pancake onto her now no longer empty plate. “I'll consider that compliment enough of a present. But on that note...” He put the pan back on the stove and leaned against the kitchen island, his expression one of open curiosity. “Am I allowed to ask what's the... uh, plan, I guess?... for the day? Do I have to do anything in particular?”

All at once, her nervousness made its unwelcome return and she swallowed her mouthful of pancake with some difficulty. “Um... Kind of? Just wear something comfortable and warm; I know we can't feel the cold but you might get a bit wet so... yeah.”

Her vague instructions caused one of his eyebrows to arch but he simply nodded. “Sure. I'm guessing that means we're going out?”

 _You have no idea..._ “Yeah. And, uh... Here.” She dashed to the bedroom and returned with one of his ties. “Put this on after that.”

It was almost cute how confused he looked as his gaze slid from the tie being thrust at him to her face then back again. “...Are we attending some kind of formal outdoors event...?”

“What?” Now it was her turn to be confused and she had to give herself a moment to look at it from his perspective before she realised how her request had been misinterpreted. “Oh, no! No, that's not- I mean like a blindfold,” she clarified hastily, all the while cursing herself for being too vague. “I just... I really want it to be a surprise.”

“Oh. Okay then.” He accepted the tie blindfold without another moment's hesitation although he did give her one last glance with a raised eyebrow and just the slightest hint of a teasing smile. “You know this just makes me even more curious, right?”

“Yes, well.” Despite everything, a smile tugged at the corners of her own lips. “I hope you won't be disappointed with the surprise.”

“I could never be disappointed in anything you're involved in.” With that simple statement and a soft kiss to her forehead which set off the butterflies in her stomach, he walked off to do as she had asked.

This was truly it. The point of no return. With hands that only shook slightly, she retrieved the basket of food she'd prepared and quickly made the hot chocolate before going to change into something warm herself. It was going to be a bit of a risk flying them to their destination without wearing her supersuit but she didn't want to be Supergirl for this even for a moment.

“Okay, I'm ready. I think.” Having blindfolded himself, Mon-El seemed extra careful not to accidentally bump into anything in the apartment... although that also meant that he had ended up talking to the dining table instead of her.

A giggle slipped out of Kara and she felt herself calm down a little. “Over here, silly.” She waited until he had turned to face her before she reached out to touch him. “Hold on, I'm going to pick you up, okay? And I'm going to be flying a little faster than usual so you might not want to open your mouth during the trip unless you want to swallow a few bugs.”

“Okay, but before you do that can you, uh, get the present I left on the bed and put it in your bag if you're bringing one?” he asked as he gestured in, amusingly enough, the direction of the living area. “If you're not-”

“I am, don't worry. Wait here.” Just as he had said, she found a neat ribbon-wrapped present with her name written on it that was slightly smaller than a wine box. It was rather light, however, and for a moment she was tempted to use her X-ray vision to take a peek-

“There's lead foil under the wrapping paper,” he called out as if he'd read her mind, a touch of bemusement in his voice.

Drat.

“You're sulking, aren't you,” he noted as she marched out of the bedroom, not even bothering to temper his smirk.

Her sulk turned into a scowl. “Am not.”

“Crinkle,” he singsonged.

“You can't even see my face right now so shut up and hold this bag,” she growled as she shoved the basket, now with his present lying on top of all its other contents, into his hands. Without allowing him to get another word in, she picked him up and they were off.

Predictably, her nervousness not only returned but compounded as she headed for their destination so by the time they arrived she was a jittery wreck all over again.

“W-Well.” She coughed, put him down, took the basket from him and let out another cough. “We're here so... you can take the blindfold off now.”

“Oh.” Mon-El's expression was one of muted surprise as he surveyed their surroundings which were distinctly lacking in terms of buildings or any sign of human civilisation in general. Instead, there was a sea of white that was only broken up by the equally snow-covered trees at the edges of the small clearing they were standing in. “I definitely wasn't expecting this.”

The lack of anything resembling excitement or even simple happiness did nothing to help Kara feel like she'd made the right call. “National City doesn't get a lot of snow and I thought you deserved to have at least one white Christmas,” she started babbling to fill the silence. “I thought about taking you to Midvale but I didn't want to impose on Eliza and maybe it sounds a little selfish but this is supposed to be my present to you and I kind of wanted it to be just us so... um... here we are.”

He was still staring silently at some random point on the horizon. In fact, it didn't even seem like he'd heard a single word she'd said.

The nervous smile she'd plastered on her face faded away as her heart sank. He didn't like it just like she'd feared. She'd screwed up – _again_ – and he was probably asking himself questions like why she'd thought he might want this and whether they really knew each other and oh Rao, what if he was thinking about ending their relationship because of that? “You hate it.” Her voice had gotten wobbly despite herself and she had to blink a few times to keep the tears pricking her eyes from falling. “Sorry, I guess I should've asked-”

That, bizarrely enough to her, was what snapped him out of his stupor. “Wait, what? Hold on, why would you say that?” he asked, sounding almost like he was starting to panic as he reached out to grasp her arms.

“You don't look excited about being here at all.” There didn't seem to be any point in trying to keep her misery out of her voice so she didn't even try.

“I am, I promise! I just-” he cut himself off and turned away as he ran a hand through his hair. To her utter confusion, he now looked... bashful? “It's like you read my mind or something so I didn't know what to say.”

Naturally, she felt even more confused at his answer. “What? What do you mean by that?”

Okay, now he was definitely blushing just a bit. “I, uh... Well, you know we've been watching quite a few Christmas movies especially lately and it kind of got me thinking about us going somewhere with, you know, actual snow but that would've meant leaving National City so I didn't want to suggest it. And then...” He looked around them again, and this time she could catch the wonder and disbelief shining in his eyes. “Are you sure this is okay?”

“If you're asking whether National City can do without its local superheroes for a few hours, I already told J'onn and Alex so they'll call if we're needed.” Her smile returned, slowly and full of giddy happiness, as she began to believe her gamble had actually paid off. “So... you like my present?”

“I love it,” he insisted with his own beaming smile before sweeping her up in a tight hug. “It's the best Christmas present I could've asked for.”

She laughed and hugged him back before gently disentangling herself so that she could focus. “Okay, so I brought some food so we can stay here a bit longer and before you ask why I chose such a remote location, I wanted us to be able to do whatever we want without having to worry about being seen by other people.”

“Whatever we want?” he repeated with a leer and an exaggerated waggle of his eyebrows.

“ _N-Not THAT!_ ” she sputtered, flushing bright red at the implications. “I meant like using our powers!”

“Oh?” Mischief and curiosity danced in his eyes as he leaned in. “Using our powers in what way?”

“Well...” she trailed off to buy herself some time as she scooped up some snow at her feet and packed it into a nice ball before zipping away with her superspeed and launching her newly formed projectile at his face. “Like that.”

He blinked, stunned, as the snow slid down his face but collected himself in a heartbeat and shot her a playful grin. “I'm going to get you for that.”

“I'd like to see you try,” she shot back and childishly stuck her tongue out for good measure only to shriek when a snowball smacked her on the head.

With war having been declared, an almost endless volley of snowballs continued to be exchanged at high speed between the two superpowered beings until exhaustion caught up and a truce was called. (Kara claimed victory; Mon-El strongly disagreed.) After that, they moved on to less competitive activities like building snowmen of themselves and the people in their lives. Snow sculptures even became an option with Kara using her freeze breath to help create solid reasonably-sized blocks that they then shaped with their hands and her heat vision. When it finally felt like time for a break, the two of them found a fallen tree that proved to be a suitable makeshift bench and dug into the food she had brought along. (To his credit, he just complimented the sandwiches and didn't comment about the lack of cooked items in the basket.)

“...So...” she started after they'd demolished more than half of the food, “do I get to open my present now?”

“Hmm? Oh, right.” Now it seemed like it was his turn to be nervous as he put down his cup of hot chocolate and hesitantly retrieved the item in question where he'd placed it beside him. “Here.” He wouldn't even really look at her as he held it out for her to take. “I... It doesn't really compare to yours but I hope you like it anyway.”

“I'm sure I will,” she reassured him with a genuine smile as she accepted it and rested it on her lap. With great care and feeling his eyes anxiously watching her every move, she pulled the ribbon free and tucked it into her pocket before strategically tearing first the wrapping paper and then the lead foil away to reveal a wooden box.

What she found when she opened the box took her breath away.

“It's a crystal flower from Sedenach,” he explained needlessly as she stared at the alien blossom resting inside on a nest of cloth and scavenged bubble wrap. “I remembered you told me that you spent your solstices there with your parents and... I heard there's an Earth saying or something about giving the person you love the moon and the stars and I know it's not actually possible but I figured- Well, one of the guys at the bar imports all kinds of stuff from other planets so I asked him-”

Mon-El's babbling was cut off when Kara tackled him to the ground and captured his lips in a rather passionate kiss.

“I love you.” The words came so naturally she didn't even realise she'd said them until she saw the way his eyes widened in surprise. When she finally did, she started blushing. “U-Um...”

“Did you just...?” he trailed off, that wonder and disbelief from before shining in his eyes once again.

Impossibly, her blush intensified... but she didn't want to take the words back. “I did.” She let out a shaky breath and smiled albeit shyly. “I love you, Mon-El.”

“And here I thought you were only getting me one present,” he murmured, pure undeniable joy now dominating his features.

She had to fight the irrational urge to hide her burning cheeks in the comforting warmth of his chest. “I-I didn't intend for it to be one.”

He hummed, his smile so wide she was almost sure it had to hurt. “Well, I'm going to consider it one anyway and I have to say, I think this one is even better.” He reached up a hand to brush her hair out of her face with so much tenderness her heart felt like it was going to burst. “I love you too, Kara.”

It wasn't the first time he'd said it but hearing him say it made her even happier than before and the only suitable response she could think of was to kiss him again.

Needless to say, it was a Christmas present exchange they would both remember for many years to come.

* * *

(To Kara's utter mortification, Eve's Christmas gift to her proudly displayed the Victoria's Secret logo, and she was immensely grateful she'd listened to her instincts and opened it while Mon-El wasn't looking.)

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, I hope you all enjoyed the journey (Would you believe that when I first came up with the idea I worried it wouldn't be long enough? Serves me right...) and Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all of you! See you all next year!


End file.
